City Councilman and public-advocate wannabe Rafael Espinal (D-Brooklyn) — whose attempt to ban plastic straws has been stalled since June — now hopes to nix plastic utensils with a measure he introduced Wednesday.

But he won’t make his skittish colleagues actually vote on the costly ban, which could push delis, bodegas and street vendors to stop handing out utensils altogether — or start using compostable forks, knives and spoons that cost up to 1,500 percent more than ordinary disposable flatware.

Instead, Espinal’s bill would give anonymous bureaucrats in the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) the power to outlaw any single-use plastic item they choose, from spoons and straws to water bottles and coffee lids — and to enforce the ban with fines.

“It makes us nervous,” said Kevin Dugan of the New York State Restaurant Association. “They will evaluate this on unknown criteria.”

The law would require DCA to perform an annual study of alternatives to single-use plastic items, based on the city’s recycling capacity and potential impact on consumers.

But it does not order the agency to evaluate the effect a ban could have on the restaurant industry.

“We believe that in the long run this will save businesses money,” Espinal told The Post, because it will force restaurants to be stingy with the costly cutlery.

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“If a restaurant decides to use biodegradable alternatives, they can use an on-request model that means they will give out fewer utensils overall,” Espinal said.

Plant-based plastic items, manufactured from avocado pits, potatoes and other organics, as well as disposable wood or bamboo replacements, could be considered under the plan.

Espinal designed the law to take the ultimate decision — and all accountability — out of the City Council’s hands, he said.

“The idea is to have an ongoing discussion internally on what plastics we can ban, instead of the City Council having to pass new bills for each type of plastic,” he said, the better to force compliance with Mayor de Blasio’s plan to reduce the city’s solid waste to zero by 2030.